Southampton Free Library to Receive Garden Grant

The group behind the sunny yellow daffodils decorating the Rt. 611 Bypass near Doylestown is at it again.

Bucks Beautiful has awarded grant money to 14 groups across Bucks County. The grants, which total $7,050, will help the groups plan projects that further the aim of the nonprofit organization - "to beautify Bucks County with lush gardens."

The garden grant program encourages groups to plant community gardens which can be viewed by the public throughout Bucks County. The grant award is a 50/50 cash match up to a maximum of $2,000 per host each year.

To qualify, a garden project must be viewable from the road. Grant money may be used only to buy annuals, perennials, flowering ornamentals and mulch; in-kind services or labor do not qualify.

Since its inception in 1991, Bucks Beautiful has awarded $330,143 to 219 garden projects throughout Bucks County, Debbie Hays, the program's administrator, said in a statement.

Bucks Beautiful planted more than 30,000 daffodil bulbs this past winter in the "Bulbs Along the Bypass" program, an effort to spruce up the Doylestown area.

Next up, the group plans to plant 300,000 daffodil bulbs - yes, you read that number correctly - along the Delaware Canal in "Color Along the Canal."

In the end, the group is aiming to plant 1 million daffodil bulbs all across Bucks County.

The group also sponsors the , which was held this year in March at Delaware Valley College.

The 2011 grant recipients are:

Southampton Free Library, Southampton

Children's Cultural Center, Doylestown

Kutz Elementary School, Doylestown

Gayman Elementary School, Plumstead

Ascension Luthern Church, Newtown                                    

Countryside Gardeners, Newtown

Four Lanes End Garden Club, Langhorne

Langhorne Borough Recreation Center, Langhorne

Pennridge Community Senior Center, Silverdale

SJW Senior Center, Levittown

St. John Bosco Church & School, Warminster

David Library of the American Revolution, Washington Crossing

Ashley Estates Beautification Cooperative, Yardley

Lower Makefield Township Environmental Advisory Council, Yardley

Bucks Beautiful is a non-profit program of the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce. For information, call 215-348-3913 ext. 114 or visit www.bucksbeautiful.com.  The program was founded by Bob & Joyce Byers, of Byers Choice, and John & Carol McCaughan.